Essence of Kick: Can Love & Hate Ever Coexist?
by flyaway101
Summary: Love&Hate—Can Two Such Powerful Emotions Ever Coexist? That's basically the question I'm posing as the integral theme behind this story. The extent to which Jack and Kim struggle with such polar opposite emotions of love and hate propels the story to an entirely different level of intensity. "Hatred wont let us come closer,Love won't let us drift apart." FULL SUMMARY INSIDE.
1. Essence of Kick

**OK. So I couldn't stop myself, I just had to get this story out! This chapter is just a small preview/trailer/prologue/sneak peek, whatever you wanna call it lol. **

**link to preview trailer on youtube: (youtube . com) /watch?v=pXbNIjcLSTU **

**Enjoy! :) **

**And don't forget to read and review! Your feedback is highly appreciated, plus it would help me decide whether I should even continue with this story, since I have like 3 other stories I'm working on as well. So lemme know in a review! Luv y'all. xx Always stay rad.**

**Oh, and I highly recommend listening to Breath and Life by Audiomachine while reading this. I was listening to it while writing this haha, it just adds to the whole trailer/prologue/summary effect. :) **

**~ Kiya**

**Feel free to follow me on twitter and instagram ! - ILoveOlivia_xo **

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Essence of Kick: Can Love & Hate Ever Coexist?

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**A thin line between love and hate.**

_"I see nothing but hatred." Thought Kim when she looked into Jack's eyes for the first time._  
_"Because love brings nothing but pain." He thought, reading Kim's mind._

* * *

**Jack.**

* * *

**Kim.**

* * *

**Love.**

_"Do you even know how worried I was?!" "WHAT IF I LOST YOU?!" Jack yelled at the top of his voice to Kim._

* * *

**Hate.**

_"Whatever happened, or even you yourself, ... None of it matters to me." Jack cleared up to Kim's confused feelings._

_"Because I HATE YOU!" He answered to Kim's relentless questions._

_ "I hate you too."_

* * *

**Love & Hate: Can two such powerful emotions...**  
**Ever coexist?**

_"YES.. Or NO?!" He declared to her, practically giving her no choice but an ultimatum to say yes._

_"Jack."_  
_"Kim.. I-" he struggled to say what he feels toward her to her._

* * *

**They hate with passion.**

_"You disgust me, Mr. Anderson! I hate you!"_

_Jack violently gripped her from her shoulders and pushed her against the wall. "ENOUGH!"_

* * *

**And love with tenderness.**

_Jack was barely conscious, his breaths barely breathing. He was tied up in a chair in a dark morose abandoned factory building. His legs were hurting, his stomach lurching, his arms writhing in pain. But none of that mattered to him. The only thing that mattered was Kim. She was all he had left to live for. Jack was currently on the phone with her, as instructed by the henchman of the kidnapper that had held him captive for so long. He didn't know why he was allowing him to speak to her, but he wasn't complaining at all. He had to tell her the truth before the kidnapper comes back. Who knows when he would ever get a chance to speak to her ever again and hear her sweet angelic voice? Hell, he didn't even know whether he'd ever live to see her again. No. No he had to tell her how he felt now._  
_"KIM I LOVE YOU." His words echoed through the phone and entered her ears._

_Kim and Jack were both intoxicated with alcohol, neither one of aware or conscious of what they were saying. But... You know what they say. Often, when you're drunk, you speak what your heart feels._  
_Kim brought both of her hands to each side of jack's face in a tenderly loving and caring manner, now past the tipsy side she had just shown him moments ago. "Why does this always happen? Whenever you're close to me, my heartbeats beat faster." "Our heartbeats-"_  
_Jack knew where she was going with this, and took hold of both of her hands with his hands and brought them in front of her face, "- become one."_

* * *

**But is this possible? Can two such powerful emotions...**  
**EVER COEXIST?**

**For Jack and Kim... These two emotions are intertwined.**

_Jack softly leaned in, as if they weren't already close enough, and brought his lips softly and tenderly to Kim's already immensely blushing left cheek._

_Kim and Jack were once again in a heated argument._  
_"Do you even have ANY IDEA what I'm going through? Your behaviour hurts me to no bounds!"_  
_Jack, once again, unable to control his anger, grips her upper arms violently, leaving Kim terrorized, bruises now existent on those arms of hers that would probably never go away. "What about the pain and suffering you've given ME? WHAT ABOUT THAT?!" He screamed at her at the top of his lungs._

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**Intertwined with every action.**

_Jack and Kim were on a big platform, a stage. To the audience, it might just be a play enactment of Romeo and Juliet. But for Kim and Jack, it was real. Every line, every movement, every feeling. Everything. As if everything they had bottled up inside of them, was now coming out in a flourish. "Juliet, I need you." "Romeo is nothing without his Juliet." He said to her as she lay lifeless on the cold hard floor on the stage._

_Or at least, that's what Kim thought. Until..._

_Kim and jack were backstage in the dressing room, and Kim was questioning about what went down that night on the stage. She was sure she saw pure love and emotion, real feelings for her, in those eyes of his. But Jack , being THE Jack Richard Anderson, proved her wrong once again. "I didnt mean anything that i said. It was just acting." And with that, he left the room filled with props and other stage and drama materials._

* * *

**Intertwined with every interaction.**

_"In this love, rights or wrongs don't mean a thing. It just means one thing."_

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**Which will prevail?**  
**Love?**  
**Or**  
**Hate?**

_"How can I expect anything to come out of a relationship based on hate?" She thought, and silently cried to herself._

* * *

**Despite hating, he wishes to love.**

_"If only I could love you."_

_Kim was on the ground, reaching her hand under the table, trying to reach for a valuable that had slid under._  
_Jack was seated on a chair right in front of the table. Suddenly, he heard kim slightly cry out in pain. Her head had briefly collided with the sharp glass of the table. He instantly dropped what he was doing and helped Kim up to her feet. "Can't you do anything right? What if your head would've gotten hurt more?" He said frantically to her, his voice filled with worry, care, and affection, which Kim hadn't gotten from him in a long time. _

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**Despite loving, she wishes to hate...**

_"If only. If only I could hate you."_

* * *

**... But can she?**

_"Even after all this hatred, why do I still miss you? Why do i argue with you, fight with you? And at the end of the day, after you're gone, I still wait for you. I talk to the winds." She said to herself, contemplating the recent events. If only she had been able to stop him from leaving._

* * *

**And inspite of all the hate... They are still hopelessly in love**

_Jack and Kim were tele-communicating through the stars._

_" I tried so hard to hate you. But I just couldn't hate you." Jack conveyed to Kim._  
_"And I tried really hard to not love you, But in the end, my heart wouldn't listen to me." Kim said to him._

* * *

**When hatred and love coexist, what do you call this love?**

**Can love defeat hate?**

_"One day, hate even shys away and bows its head down in front of love, and the relationship turns into a pure and meaningful bond." Kim thought after discovering Jack's whereabouts._

* * *

**Or will it be...**  
**The other way around?**

_"But sometimes hatred is enough." Kim contemplated. _

* * *

**What happens...**  
**When hate binds two people ...**

_"These rings, these vows, this whole thing is just a compromise. I will never consider you my wife, and neither will I give you the respect and honor of one." He clearly explained to her, kicking her out of his room to sleep by the poolside that was adjacent and attached to his room, a sliding door being the only thing separating the poolside from the room._

* * *

**But love...**  
**Seizes to keep them together?**

_"I don't need anything else, Kim. i dont need anything." Jack conveyed to Kim as they tele-communicated through the stars. He wished so bad he could be with her right now, take her hand, hug her, kiss her, and always be there for her. He just wanted to go back to her, that's all he needed._

* * *

**Find out:**  
**When...**  
**Hatred wont let us come closer,**  
**Love won't let us drift apart.**

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**What do you call this love?**

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**In this story, Jack and Kim will emote emotions that will MOVE you: **

**PAIN. **

**HAPPINESS.**

**PROTECTION. **

**FAITH. **

**JEALOUSY. **

**ANGER. **

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**In this story, you'll see the REAL relationships that will TOUCH your soul: **

**Jack-Kim**

**Milton-Julie**

** Jack-Jane (OC; BROTHER-SISTER BOND) **

**Kim-Julie (SISTERS) **

**Jack-Milton (BROTHERS) **

**Kim-Jane **

**Kim-Donna **

**Kim-Jerry **

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**Live the sublime essence of _What Do You Call This Love? _**

**A Star-Crossed Love Story **

******Hatred wont let us come closer,**  
**Love won't let us drift apart.**

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**An EVIL so potent it knows no bounds. **

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**THE PASSION**

**THE BETRAYAL**

**THE MISCHIEF**

**THE LAUGHTER**

**THE INTENSITY**

**THE THRILL**

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**WHAT DO YOU CALL THIS LOVE?**

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**Aaaand there you have it! Your thoughts? Good? Bad? So-so? Terrible? Let me know! :) **

**I got major feels while writing this, and I hope you all did. I am already emotionally attached to this story haha, and am really looking forward to writing the next chapters, that is, if this "trailer"/prologue has appealed to you. I can ensure you this story will make a wide array of emotions arise. **


	2. The Glass Palace

**AHH. So I just wanna thank y'all for all the love from the trailer I gave you guys. You guys are the BEST! almost 20 reviews in just the sneak peek! Hopefully, this story lives up to yalls expectations :) xx**

**In case you haven't seen it yet, make sure you watch this before you read on! : (youtube . com) / watch?v=sJVXqbZZ8Fk**

**And I know a lot of you are confused about the story line.. the first chapter was meant to JUST be a preview and get you thinking and hyped about the story. From this chapter forwards, it will no where near be that confusing, and will progress like a normal story line, just like all my other stories. **

**Just some minor details:**

**WARNING. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. Jack is VERY VERY VERY OOC. His character has a lot of different shades to him, I've made his character quite dark and pessimistic, so you might be surprised by the things he does. **

**Kim is OOC. She's not as fearless as in the show, but she's still that same confident girl and knows how to hold her ground. And she's a tad weird and crazy haha. **

**Character Sketches:**

**JACK - A 25 year old self-made man; is ruthless and wants to win at any cost. He believes everything can be bought in the world, including love. He has no consideration for relationships and can manipulate people to achieve his ambitions. (LIKE I SAID, DARK!) **

**KIM - A 21 year old small town girl; she is simple, rooted in family and is driven by a clear moral compass. She stands up for what she believes in, and never lets go of her inculcated values. She will not change herself to conform to people's shallow expectations. She is righteous and intelligent, but slightly naive at the same time.**

**Also, please bare with me. I'm not really that satisfied with this chapter. BUT... This is just the first chapter, and I ensure you that KICK feels WILL arise. This first chapter mainly provides the setting and background to the characters, but kick will develop soon! This story IS practically centered around them, so don't worry! The plot will develop! :) **

**Without further ado, I present to you...**

**ESSENCE OF KICK: CAN LOVE&HATE EVER COEXIST? **

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_Italics - thoughts, flashbacks, emphasis on words _

**Chapter 1: The Glass Palace: The Place Where It All Began**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Wide Awake by ****cinematic daydreams, or Kickin' It. Also, I'm Indian, so I don't really know a lot about the Christian or Catholic religion, so sorry if my knowledge is wrong, I'm just going by what I know. :) No disrespect to any religion intended. **

* * *

A seven-year old Kim Holt, happily residing in New York with her caring mother and father, were heading home after a dinner night out for her birthday. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world, she got her favorite teddy bear for her birthday, and had the best parents ever! The whole family was joyfully singing Christmas carols on the way home. What more could a seven-year old ask for?

However, no one knew that that day would change her life forever, and neither did she know that was the last time she would ever get to sing Christmas carols with her family on her birthday EVER again.

Kim's father, Mark Holt, had briefly and momentarily turned his gaze away from the front of the road to his wife to join in the carol singing. However, he didn't take into account the fast speeding truck that was approaching them from the wrong lane.

"DADDY WATCH OUT!"

As soon as he heard a long honk from the truck, he immediately jolted his gaze back onto the road, and tried to steer his way back into safety, but it was too late. A crash collision took place as Kim's Toyota Highlander fist-collided into the heavy large truck.

* * *

**(AN: This next passage was partly taken by Wide Awake by cinematic daydreams, great story by the way! I really liked the way she portrayed the hospital day, and I couldn't have written it better myself, :)) **

**KIM POV**

A source of lightness broke through pitch-black darkness. The light was blinding, burning sorely through my eyelids, that my eyelids snapped open, and I could feel my pupils dilating, but I could not get my eyes to adjust. As soon as the light had reached me, so did pain. I could feel my brain pounding hard and achingly against my skull. My eyes closed again, but I forced them open again.

I could feel my temperature rise. My body felt as if it were on fire. I tried getting up, or moving a limb, but it felt impossible. Every time I blinked, my eyes began to grow heavier and heavier, and my head began to throb even harder. I tried wiggling my toes, but that too, seemed to make this experience even more agonizing.

I don't remember waking up in the morning being so _painful_.

The light started to fade and move away from my view – thank God – and an unfamiliar face replaced it, blinking down at me. I could see it was a male, and the only other thing I could recognize about this figure was a white coat dressed over a blue … shirt?

"Kimberly?" the low voice of the face called my name. It seemed to almost cause my eardrums to shake painfully, bringing my ears great discomfort. "Can you hear me?" Why was my body feeling so weak? And who in the world was this person, why were they shining some light at me, and why were they in my bedroom? "Kimberly?" The voice said again, but I couldn't respond at all. The pain had taken over my body in such a way, I could not move at all.

My eyes fluttered closed, but I didn't fall into slumber, therefore I could still hear my surroundings.

"Well, this is the first sign of consciousness she's made in a week," I heard the same deep voice say to somebody else that should have been in the room. "Last week, her hand moved, and muttered something in her sleep but her eyes were still closed. Her opening them is good. It's a good sign."

"Thank goodness," I heard a female voice respond, which was very vaguely familiar. I hadn't heard that voice in ages. "Any other news, doctor?"

"No. She seems to be fine. Other than experiencing a bit of psychological trauma from witnessing such a severe accident at such a young age, she should be fine."

"So Kim's okay?" The female voice said, a bright tone starting to shine through her voice.

"She seems to be doing great, I must assure you, Mrs. Crawford," The doctor said. _Wait.. Crawford! Of course, Aunt Stephanie! But I haven't seen her since she last came to New York to visit from India since I was 4 years old. I barely remember her._ "Don't worry, she will wake soon."

But where are my parents? She wanted to get up, and shout and demand to know where her parents had gone, leaving her. But she couldn't. She didn't have the strength to. Instead, she fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open and I blinked. I turned my head slightly to the side, examining my whereabouts. I was in a hospital room, I could clearly see. There were chairs set beside my bed, but they seemed as if they had been recently used, due to their odd positions. I could see a heart monitor – _my_ heart monitor – and the lines running across the small screen, in sync with the beeps that were considered my heartbeats.

The pounding in my head had begun, but it didn't hit me as hard as it did the previous time. This time, it was almost bearable, like a very bad migraine.

I decided to decide my state by trying to wiggle my toes. I did so, and I succeeded on this attempt. It was painful, but it was endurable. I moved other body parts, like my fingers and my hands, and even my leg. I was able to, but with slow and hesitant movements.

"Kim!" I heard, giving me a little fright. I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a blonde nurse, standing by my bedside, smiling down at me. "How are you doing? I can see you're moving, and your eyes are finally open!" Where they closed for that long? "How are you feeling?"

"In pain," I managed to mutter, trying not to use my mouth too much while speaking. "Where are my parents?"

The nurse immediately gave me a pained expression, her face becoming pale like a ghost.

_Why is she looking at me like that? What's wrong? Why is her face full of empathy and where are my parents? All I remember is..._

* * *

_However, he didn't take into account the fast speeding truck that was approaching them from the wrong lane._

_"DADDY WATCH OUT!"_

_As soon as he heard a long honk from the truck, he immediately jolted his gaze back onto the road, and tried to steer his way back into safety, but it was too late. A crash collision took place as Kim's Toyota Highlander fist-collided into the heavy large truck._

* * *

_I remember. I remember! EVERYTHING! _

_No. No! It couldn't be. _"Why aren't you answering me! Where are my mommy and daddy! And why am I in a hospital bed!"

Like any average 7-year old girl would throw a tantrum not seeing her parents with her in crucial situations like this, I did too. I wailed my arms and legs all over, thrashing all around my bed, desperately trying to break free to find my parents. But the nurse wouldn't have it that way. She kept straining me down. "NO NO NO LET ME GO. I SAID LET ME GOOOO!" _  
_

Suddenly, as this tug of war was going on, a familiar face walked in, her face filled with concern and worry, immediately telling the nurse to back off. She ran and dashed as fast as she could towards me, comforting me to lay back down.

"Aunt Steph!" "Please take me to my parents, take me away from here! I don't like this place, they're all big meanies!" I wailed to her, tears streaming down my cheeks, as she embraced me in a tight hug.

But my aunt didn't answer. She had that same pity-filled sympathetic face that that dumb blond nurse had had. Instead, she hugged me even tighter, so tight that I felt suffocated and out of breath, and a lot of my limbs were hurting as well, added pressure onto my injured legs and arms. "Oh sweetheart. Don't worry everything will be okay."

* * *

Steph was hanging onto her niece for dear life, bringing up her hands up and down Kim's back in a soothing manner, cradling her. Stephanie promised herself she would be strong. She couldn't be weak now. She needed her. Her only niece needed her. She couldn't back down. She still remembered the last words that Olivia, Kim's mother, had said to her.

* * *

_Stephanie barged into the hospital doors straight from the airport as soon as she had got news of her sister's car accident with her family Mark and Kim. She walked and dragged her feet as fast as she could to the receptionist desk. Panting out of breath, she hurriedly asked, "Mark, Olivia, and Kim Holt. Where are they?!"_

_"Please calm down ma'am. Just give me a sec." "Here. Have some water."_

_She gladly took the water and drank a few sips, letting the water linger down her throat soothingly. After a few moments of silence, the woman behind the desk answered, "I think it'd be best for you to contact the doctor for this car accident case, Dr. Austin (**AN: No way related to Austin and Ally, just a random name),** he's on the second floor, second door to the left. **  
**_

_Not wasting another moment, Stephanie sped down the hall and ascended up the stairs up to the second floor. Finally reaching Dr. Austin's office, she barged in. It had already been 3 days since the day of the accident. She prayed to her Hindu Devi Maiyya Goddess that her sister and her family were all right._

_"Dr. My sister. Olivia Holt. HOW IS SHE?! And what about her family?"_

_The Dr. got up from his seat behind his desk, causing the two patients sitting in their respective chairs in front of him to rise as well. "Alright well everything seems to be progressing well, be sure to make another appointment for next week, I'll see you then." He nodded at them, signaling for them to leave._

_After his two prior patients left, the doctor finally spoke to Kim's frantically hyperventilating and worried aunt, "Come with me." He said solemnly._

_The doctor and Stephanie were now looking through a glass pane window, standing outside Olivia's room in the hospital. Stephanie had already been informed that Mark had died at the crash site, immediate death. However, Olivia wasn't far off from her husband. The shock of Mark's death to Olivia was so immense that she ultimately had slipped into a coma. Stephanie couldn't bare to see the lifeless body of her sister on a hospital bed, multiple machines and wires attached to her body._

_"I never thought I'd see my sister so weak, so feeble, so fragile in my entire life."_

_"Indeed, Mrs. Crawford. But I must inform you, that's not all."_

_Stephanie let out a fearful whimper from her lips. "Wha-What do you mean? She's already in a coma!"_

_"During the accident, she lost a lot of blood. And because of that, her internal bleeding has gone so far as to now that we're finding it difficult to sustain her." The doctor flashed her a sympathetic look, "I'm afraid she's only got a few hours left to live."_

_Tears began to form on the brinks of her eyes. No, this couldn't be! Dear sister. Why couldn't it be me! WHYYYY! After all the destruction I've caused back home, this should have happened to me! Why my sister! She never hurt a fly! _

_"I'm sorry. We tried our best." The doctor hung his head low, and exited from the premise._

_With a hesitant step or two, Stephanie pushed a hand on the hospital door, and creaked into the room. Slowly, she approached her, and sat onto the black chair in front of her bed. She was strong. She had to be. But the minute she laid eyes on the lifeless body before him, she broke like a twig on a branch. She immediately engulfed in tears, bringing her head to the bed sheets, muffling her face into the sheets in agony. Her sister couldn't end like this, she just couldn't!_

_She began to cry even more on her asleep arm, when all of a sudden, that same arm began to twitch involuntarily. Moments passed, and it began to twitch more and more with each passing second._

_Suddenly, Olivia's eyes opened wide and she abruptly came to, as if she awoke from the dead. _

_"Olivia! You-you're awake! Doctor! Doctor, please help! She's awake!" Stephanie said as she abruptly got up to fetch for a doctor, only to be slapped down by Olivia's grasp on her wrist. _

_"No. Listen to me, Steph. I don't have much time. Please hear me out." _

_Tears were filling both siblings' eyes, their eyes glossy and full of longing. Stephanie slightly nodded her head in reluctance and eased back down in her chair, holding onto her arm for dear life._

_"Please. Promise me you'll take care of her." She managed to utter out from her lips. _

_"Who, Olivia? Who are you talking about?" _

_"Kimberly. My daughter... please. Promise me you won't leave her side, you'll give her all the love and care that I now can't. You'll teach her your Hindu ways, the culture, your values, moral values, everything. Promise me you'll keep her happy." _

_"No. I won't. I won't have to! Because you'll be fine, everything will be alright, and you can raise her - " _

_"LISTENNN Stephanie. PLEASE. I only have a few more moments before I go to the Lord in heaven."_

_Tears were streaming down Stephanie's cheek like a waterfall. No. It wouldn't end like this! It wouldn't! Dear sister. _

_"Please promise me Steph. PLEASE. You'll take care of her like your own." _

_Steph began to sob uncontrollably. "I- I promise." She said firmly, latching her hands onto Olivia's. _

_Olivia breathed one last sigh of relief. "Thank you. I know you'll treat her well, I believe in you. From now on, YOU are her mother." Olivia flashed her one last gleaming but weak smile, earning a smile right back from Steph. "And tell her I love her very much. I'll always watch over her." She sobbed again, her head burying into Olivia's hand, but something was off. Her hand felt so .. lifeless, void of life. And when she looked up again, it was clear. She was gone. FOREVER. _

* * *

14 years had passed, and Kim had grown into a beautiful young lady. Her beauty surpassed all women, her mesmerizing doe-like eyes, her perfectly shaped face, and her luscious lips. She was a beauty.

14 years ago, Stephanie adopted her one and only niece and took her in to live with her and her family in India. She taught her all the Indian ways, its culture, religion, moral values, everything. And not once did Kim complain or refute. In fact, she was thankful for her aunt taking her in, and loved her like her mother. If it hadn't had been for her, she would have been rotting in some filthy New York orphanage.

* * *

Kim Crawford had managed to escape out of her own home and was now getting her small little scootie all geared up and ready to go. As she was doing this, she rambled, seeming like she was talking to someone, but no one was really around her so who was she rambling off to?

"I'm sorry, but the matter is just so serious that I HAD to do something about it! And I don't have much time either. And I feel super bad about leaving home without telling Mom or Dad. But what can I do? I just can't tell them. Actually, today is Julie's wedding, and today, on the wedding day, they just HAD to ask for 200,000 (US) dollars. Are you listening?"

Kim finished prepping her scootie and gearing it up, and turned around to face the statue of the goddess "Devi Maiyya" in front of her. She was her best friend. Any time she needed help, the Goddess would always indirectly find a solution to all her problems.

"Asking for dowry, and that too on the wedding day, it's like committing a huge crime Goddess. And that's why Julie and I decided to meet up with Nate and talk to him in person. Maybe he doesn't even know about this unfair demand. I don't think he knows about any of this." She sighed and pleaded, "Listen Goddess, I hope Nate turns out to be as perfect as I imagine him to be. He should stop his family from making this absurd demand." "Please bless us with a whole lot of love and happiness. Alrighty well I have to go, see ya!" She sounded the bell chime above her, made a brief prayer folding her hands together, and left on her scootie, unaware of the happenings that would proceed that night for her. Tonight would be a night that would change her life forever.

Kim was steering her way through the busy downtown streets of Lucknow. And let's just say she wasn't exactly the best driver out there. As she drove the busy crowded streets, she constantly barely managed to avoid collisions with many obstacles in the way. In half of those near collisions, she yelled and scream for people to get out of her way.

"Hey! Watch it!" A man sneered at her, as he barely managed to save his skin from colliding with her scootie.

"I'm sorry! I'll apologize when I get back!" She called out to the man in empathy.

After all the hustle, bustle, and near collisions of driving in the market streets, Kim finally drove onto the main highway, which would lead her straight to the hotel where Nate and his family were staying. As she drove on, she consistently found multiple pairs of eyes gawking and staring at her weirdly, mostly because of her attire.

Soon, she stopped at a red stop light, and when she did, two men on a motor bike beside her looked her up and down.

"Well well well. Looks like we got ourselves a runaway bride."

It was true. In the hurry of setting things right, Kim just didn't have the time to change into casual attire, and then change right back into the wedding appropriate attire in time for the wedding.

When she looked to her right, she saw a cute family of four glaring at her, precariously wondering why in the earth she was dressed so elegantly. It wasn't everyday that you got to see a girl dressed in wedding attire in the middle of the road at a stoplight.

The younger boy glared more profusely at her than the other members of the family.

"Heh." Kim uttered out.

But the boy didn't back down from staring at her in bewilderment.

"The thing is, I'm in a play for college. So I just left home in my costume for the dress rehearsal. You know, like a princess." She happily made an excuse.

The boy smiled slightly. "So then where's your prince?" He asked her politely.

The girl's face slightly dropped in amusement. _I don't know, but he's out there __somewhere_.

As if on cue, that "prince" was currently riding above her thousands of feet situated in the leather plush seat of a helicopter. The turbulence and noise of that helicopter hovering over Kim didn't go unnoticed by her. Little did she know that the helicopter she was looking at from the ground would encase the one man who she would spend her life with forever.

But we've got the whole story for that.

* * *

The helicopter continued to hover and ride over the traffic above it, and soon passed it to move onto its destination, where a big palace-like mansion could be seen, with a large green field for landing was situated right in front of it.

"Target approaching sir." The pilot said, as his eyes zoomed in on a white circle situated in the center of the humongous green field.

The passenger inside the copter peered down from the cockpit window of his private helicopter. Numerous reporters and paparazzi with microphones and camera crew had formed at the entrance of the large mansion - rambunctious reporters jabbing their cameras and whatnot in the air as they were bounded from the bodyguards in front of them so they could not go any further.

"Perfect. Commence landing. And keep the press away from here. I don't feel like facing them." He instructed the pilot.

His pilot indicated his assent as he prepared to land on the top of the white-colour circled grass. He scarcely waited for the helicopter to fully reach the ground before he leapt out of the vehicle. He ignored the greetings from his employees who were quick to open the hatch door of the helicopter for him to stride through.

And there was Jack Leo Anderson, in all his glory. He took off in style his black tinted aviators he had worn. He was a gorgeous sight to see. Brown luscious hair, chocolate eyes, and a perfectly shaped face. Anyone that had seen him in the tabloids would say he looked much better in person.

As he walked around the helicopter towards the mansion before him, he was a few hundred feet away from the impulsive and snarky paparazzi trying to make him the news of page 3. The reporters went wild asking crazy questions and profusely brought out their cameras and such to capture the epic man before them. However, this was Jack Leo Anderson were talking about here. As always, he was unphased by the immense attention he always got, whether it be the paparazzi, news channel reporters, or hot shot models or celebrities. None of that mattered to him, the only thing that mattered, or so everyone thought, was money, business, wealth, power, all of these things. He had no room in his heart for emotions, and thus no moral compass to abide to either.

However, one such question from a nosy reporter stuck a chord greatly within him.

"Sir sir sir! The news on the street is that you have old ties with this city?"

_Old ties? Oh, it was more than just "old ties." There was a hidden past, a secret, a memory behind his motive of coming back here. __The reason he was the way he was. The reason he wasn't like other men his age. This exact place had been the REASON a smile had not crept up on his lips for the past 10 years. In fact, Jack couldn't even remember the last time he openly laughed. It felt like ages. THAT Jack had died within him long ago. _

Jack immediately became more focused than before and walked as if he was in a trance towards the palace before him, ignoring the huge crowd of reporters and paparazzi that had tried to get in the way. Their efforts to interview the one and only JLA (Jack Leo Anderson) were made futile, only to be blocked by Jack's built bodyguards.

He eyed the large mansion before him. His memory drifted to that once fateful day, and could feel the mansion fading from colour to black and white as a transition.

* * *

_It was a moment of jubilee and celebration at the Brewer residence. Everyone was singing, dancing, and celebrating together in joy. There wasn't a happier occasion. My dear sister was getting engaged today. She looked so happy. In fact, we were all happy. I flashed her a gleaming smile, expressing how beautiful she looked._

_And then... It all came tumbling down. _

_All of a sudden, my sister and I saw my mother frantically running down the halls, tears cascading down from her eyes, and disappeared into the darkness of the elegant marble halls._

_A gunshot was heard. The sound of the gun going off ripped through my ears as if I was right next to a fireworks display, listening to it go off, with no protection. The echo of the ear-splitting "BANG" carried on for a good minute._

_"MOMMMMMMMMMMMM!"_

* * *

Jack had just finished the transaction of buying the Glass Palace from the landlord, and boy was the man who lived in the palace-mansion upset. He was rapidly chasing after THE Jack Anderson with tinted aviator shades on his eyes to get a word in this unjust decision. After all, where was he to go and live? This mansion was his home.

"Please Mr. Anderson. This really isn't fair! it must be a misunderstanding, or a mistake!"

But Jack didn't heed a word to what he was trying to say. He rounded another corner and went down another hall. Of course, not without the pestering man following in pursuit behind him.

He tried again. "Mr. Anderson. You're surely a man of your principles, right?"

_Principles? Oh how rich._ "Only fools live by their principles."

The man behind him began to plead his hands. "There's only one thing that matters in business. And that's _money_." He told him as he walked ahead briskly, not once looking back. "And life taught me long ago that even if you do have a conscience, _kill it_."

Abruptly, Jack came to a stop, with the man still pleading behind him. With his right hand, he slowly took off his black tinted aviator shades, showing his chocolate orbs of eyes to his press fanclub outside.

"Isn't that right." He seethed out and started, finishing his sentence when he fully turned around and faced the cowering and pleading excuse of a human male, "Uncle John."

The man's eyes went wide with shock. _It's you! It's actually you! My dear nephew, where had he been all these years? _To say the least, he couldn't believe his eyes.

Jack sent him a menacing glare, his eyes instilling fear in his uncle's eyes. He remembered that fateful day, and how cruel and ruthless his uncle had been to him. So cruel and ruthless in fact that...

* * *

_Jack and Jane were currently standing in the gardens, near the front gates of the palace. They were whimpering and pleading for their Uncle to not throw them out of their house._

_"You and your sister have no business living in this house. Because I.. Am a man who lives by his principles." His uncle berated, ending with a villainous chuckle._

* * *

The former uncle began to cower, whimper, and stutter in front of his former nephew who was now more powerful and wealthy than he could possibly ever imagine.

"You-your-you're Jackk! Jack Brewer." He said with astonishment and whimper.

Jack immediately snapped back, "I stopped calling myself "Brewer" the day you threw my sister and I out of this mansion."

The man cowardly whimpering before him shook his head left and right, pleading for an apology.

"Now I'm just Anderson. Jack Leo Anderson." He declared. It was quite clear that nobody, NOBODY was to mess with JACK LEO ANDERSON.

And with that, he strode down the hall, his built bodyguards following in pursuit, as he put his aviator shades back on his piercing, fear-instilling eyes.

* * *

The sun had set, and the skies filled with darkness, but yet illuminated by the round moon shining brightly in the night sky. An extravagant fashion show was taking place at Jack's newly acquired but old home that was now his.

The MC announced Jack's name with valor, "Friends. Mr. Jack Leo Anderson has organized this fashion show for his company's latest collection at his recently acquired grand mansion." As Jack began to descend upon the ramp, followed by his two female showstoppers strutting behind him, "Ladies and gentleman! Please welcome... Mr. JACK LEO ANDERSON!" He introduced, with enthusiasm in his voice.

A large applause broke out as soon as he was announced, and Jack descended further down the ramp to stop at the end, right in front of the audience. His two female prized models stood confidently beside him, one on each side, strutting their model moves. Jack looked down at the audience with pride and confidence.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kim had arrived at the extravagant _Glass Palace Mansion_, but for all she knew, the building was just a hotel where the groom and his famliy were to start their wedding procession.

She parked her scootie right in front of the gates, and got off. "Well. This is the address that Mr. Nate told me over the phone. Time to go sort things out." She told herself.

She entered into the mansion, but soon enough, found herself in a maze with boundless rooms and corridors, no idea where to go. Somehow, she spotted a receptionist desk with a male receptionist idly working away. _Perfect._

"Excuse me! Hi. Where can I find room no. 51?" She asked politely.

When the man turned around to face her, he was awe-struck by her beauty, as any other man would be. A rose in his hand, he spoke, "Why in such a hurry, my lovely fair maiden?"

Kim gave him a weird face. _Huh? What century is he living in? The Shakespearean era?_

The man continued, "enter with graceful steps into my heart's Eden."

_Ok I'm officially weirded out._ "Huh?"

The man looked at her in bewilderment. He had just said a wonderful couplet, and she didn't even applaud!

"No uh.. Look. I'm looking for room no. 51."

His face lit up like a child opening presents early on Christmas Day. "Hey, that almost rhymes!" He began to jump up and down in ecstasy like a giddy child. "You're a natural poet!"

Kim began to protest and ask again, but the man in front of her interrupted excitedly, "oh! Here's another."

_Not again..._

**__****"**The way you seek is to the right, where lies a corridor, take a couple of steps, a little to the left,"

As he said "a little to the left," he slightly turned his head to the left for emphasis, but when he turned his head back ahead to finish his poem, she was gone, scurrying down the hall to find her own way. "Oh heavens. She left too." He sighed glumly.

Kim was in a fix. There were corridors leading to hallways all around her. She looked to her left, _hmm this one looks appealing_, and then to her right, _but what if the room is in this hallway? Mannn, what do I do?_

_Got it. Like always, Devi Maiyya'll get me through this!_

She began to spin round and round in circles and closed her eyes. As she did, she began to chant, "Mother of all, show me the way and turn this night into a day. In a jiffy, take me there. With all my heart, I offer a prayer!"

She stopped abruptly when she stopped speaking and opened her eyes to see the chosen corridor in front of her.

_Okay, here goes nothing._

* * *

Back at Jack's fashion show in the west wing of the mansion, everything was going smoothly. The colour theme being red, models walked up and down the red-themed ramp, striking poses upon reaching the front, right in front of Jack Anderson, who had been seated front row so he could oversee his show and make sure it was going smoothly.

He inspected each model running thru the ramp, but his mind kept wandering, distracted by the distraught memories this elegant mansion was haunting him with. Trying to find solace, he laid his head back in a peaceful manner.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kim wandered through the corridor and when she came through, she came face to face with a fashion show being taken place. _uh oh.. I THINK I might've taken the wrong corridor. _Not wanting to get in any trouble, she decided to run for it through backstage.

* * *

While Kim made her way through the corridor that would lead to Jack's fashion show, the manager of the models was hyperventilating on the phone to a model's agent, panicking that their last model hadn't arrived yet.

"Making THIS kind of mistake at JACK LEO ANDERSON's show means SUICIDE ya hear me!"

"Oh to hell with that! where IS your model for cryin' out loud! What do you mean 'she was supposed to be here 20 minutes' -" and when he turned around in continuation of pacing back and forth, his eyes came face to face with a scurrying Kim, and she looked no less than a model right now with her gorgeous and elegant wedding attire.  
Realizing, well according to him, that his next model was on the run, he swiftly ran and caught up to her, facing her to motion her to stop.

"Stop stop stop stop! Where are you going?"

Huffing from all the running, she barely managed to let out, "Well Nate..."

But the manager could care less. He just cared about her attire. "What a disastrous piece of stole you're wearing!"

"Hey! My stole! What are you -"

He called his makeup and fashion minions to fix her up, "Change that hideous stole first! And then fix her up." He demanded.

While makeup artists and hair artists began to enhance Kim's beauty appropriate for the fashion show despite her protests to let her go, more models walked up and down the ramp.

Finally, when they were done with their work, the manager pushed her onto the stage.  
Kim let out a slight gasp from almost falling, "hey! Why you -" she was just about to beat the living daylights out of that manager, but when she turned to face the 1000s of people in the audience, she became stiff like a statue. "Oh boy..." She thought. That's a WHOLE lot of people. She immediately became nervous, apprehensive of the large amount of people she had never seen in her life. Plus, the taunts coming out from the audience really weren't helping, making her even more nervous.

"Who is this girl?"

"Why is she wearing green?"

"Why'd she just stop in the middle of the ramp?"

The two models who were at the front of the ramp began to descend back to the beginning of the ramp, and Kim saw this as an opportunity to approach them. But to no avail. They blatantly ignored her, walking right past her as if she wasn't even there, like an invisible ghost.

While the audience gave constant taunts, Jack could care less. His head was still lain back, trying to rid himself of all the painful memories this place had brought with it. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to hold one of his largest fashion shows here.

More taunts erupted.

"She's not even walking."

" who is she.?"

"Maybe she's .. Nervous?"

Her eyes began to get glossy with fear. She didnt know what to do. And she definitely didnt know a thing about this fashion show. And what about Nate? How was she going to find him now? Was it too late?

"She doesn't look like a model." A woman taunted from the audience. "How'd she get on the stage?" She smirked.

THAT sentence was an eye-opener for Jack, his eyes immediately snapping open. As Jack opened his eyes, Kim slowly and apprehensively closed hers, hoping that this was all a bad dream.

Jack flashed his eyes toward kim, who was now being dragged down the ramp by two models on each side of her. Needless to say, all the while she was being dragged, she kept trying to explain her case to them. "Look, y'all. This is a _really_ big misunderstanding. Where are you taking me?"

Jack glared at the girl who had dared to sabotage his show. She was now at the very front of the ramp, standing reluctantly right before him, only a few feet away. In anger, he slowly rose to his feet from the comfortable seat under him, and walked slightly closer to the edge of the ramp. He kept glaring at her. If looks could kill, Kim would be dead in the blink of an eye. Lucky for her, she hasn't even noticed Jacks presence. Her focus was on the audience that had been glaring and taunting at her all this while. She'd had enough. She'd never even seen a fashion show in her life, let alone take part in one. She was so scared for her sister's wedding. So scared on thinking about what the consequences would be if she didnt get home in time now. Hastily, she turned around, pulling up her stole over herself. She began to run off, but her feet slipped on the stole whose length went onto the ground, and sent her flying off the hard black stage of the ramp, and right into..

Jack's arms. She opened her eyes to find her chocolate brown doe eyes staring right into another pair of brown orbs. But there was something off about these eyes. Those eyes as she peered more and more into them, she saw new levels of pain and angst in them. Those eyes of his instilled great fear within her. No sense of emotion whatsoever.

_I see nothing but hatred_.

Reading the fear in his eyes, he bore into her eyes, _because love brings nothing but pain_ - he conveyed to her through their intense eye conversations.

Cameras and press that had been suppressed and calm for the majority of the show suddenly erupted and wildly began to flash and cover the juicy scene before them: A beautiful girl in the arms of THE Jack Leo Anderson, chocolate brown eyes staring into each other as if they were past lovers, or at least, that's what they thought.

Moments that seemed like lifetimes passed by, and one such moment passed where confetti and fireworks erupted behind Jack and Kim, initially thought to be celebrating the successful run of a fashion show, but now it seemed like the celebration of Kim in Jacks arms.

This was starting to become all too overwhelming to Kim, and she became quite fearful. Sensing her fear, Jack tightened his grip on Kim, his arms wrapped around her waist and legs in bridal style becoming firmer. This caused Kim to consequently flinch, her face inching even closer to Jack's.

* * *

PREVIEW FOR NEXT CHAPTER:

"YOU chose the wrong place for an accident lady." He shouted, his tone demeaning and full of rage.

" I ALREADY TOLD YOU! I DIDN'T SABOTAGE YOUR SHOW ALREADY!" She replied right back. She was tired of explaining the same thing over and over again. Why couldn't he get it in that thick skull of his? She came here by accident, and now she just wanted to get home.

But Jack wouldn't have it that way. He wasn't letting her go anytime soon.


End file.
